Wines For The Worst Social Media Stereotypes

Date: February 21, 2016

Author: Marthélize Tredoux

Whine into wine?

Or the more descriptive yet less catchy title: “The Best Wines To Pair With The Most Annoying Social Media Stereotypes“.

If you are even moderately active on any social media channel or platform, by definition, you will be engaging in a quasi-social manner with other humans. And we know that – as humans go – the spectrum ranges from amazing to annoying and everything inbetween. And as the world has gone mad for pairing wine with everything from moods to music, I present to you a useful guide to pairing everyone’s least favourite online stereotype with a wine to make it a bit more bearable.

To Be (back) In The Pink

Date: September 10, 2015

Author: Marthélize Tredoux

Categories: MCC & Champagne, Wine Competitions, Wine Opinion

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Rosé Rocks

For such a pretty, beautifully hued and generally cheerful-looking wine, rosé in South Africa has had a really strained relationship with consumers over the past decade or so. I’m not pointing fingers or laying blame but I suspect we’d all agree that this is largely due to two reasons: sugar and volume. I sincerely mean no offense to any producer but sugary sweet pink wines and pink wines in big boxes have – in the minds of many – set the tone for rosé consumption in SA. OBVIOUSLY not exclusively, but it’s a connotation that has been pretty dominant. Pair that perception with the idea that rosé is for girls, and you’ve essentially shoved your average rosé consumer into a pretty tightly defined box. Today though, I say to you, rejoice! For rosé is riding its own little wave of revolution – and we are all better off for it.

Tank & Barrel – Finally, a Cool Wine Club?

Date: August 18, 2015

Author: Marthélize Tredoux

Categories: Uncategorized, Wine Reviews

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Wine Club for Cool Kids

I am not a fan of the traditional wine club format. I was duped into joining one ages ago – not a wine farm affiliated club, just a general wine-of-the-month type. It was horrific. I could put together a better selection than the ones I received by tossing glue-covered corks at a supermarket wine shelf and taking the first ones they stick to. It’s horrendous and nearly always “good idea, bad execution”. There are many reasons why this is the case, probably mostly because of badly sourced wines or budgetary constraints; if you want to offer people 6 or 12 wines of a certain quality, then there is a certain cost associated. And if you don’t happen to like the selection, you’ve just paid a bundle for a case or two you don’t care for. Thankfully, there are those among us who have wrestled with this problem on behalf everyone who has have suffered through the annoyance of being sold awful wine in bulk. Could it be that Tank & Barrel has managed the impossible? Have they created a cool wine club?

Sediment – Wyn op die Kassie

Date: January 23, 2015

Author: Marthélize Tredoux

Categories: Twitter Wine Tastings, Uncategorized, Wine Opinion

Comments: 2 Replies

Sediment. Vrydae 17:30 op Kanaal 144

Tydens Desember 2014 het ek op Twitter kennis gemaak met die @SedimentTV rekening wat voorbrand gemaak het vir ‘n Afrikaanse KykNet reeks wat handel oor die plaaslike wyn wêreld. Op Vrydag 2 Januarie 2015 om 17:30 het die eerste episode die lug gesien, met ‘n gemengde ontvangs van die industrie af. Enige interessante nuuthede (veral dié wat ‘n bietjie omstredenheid veroorsaak) verdien om van naderby ondersoek te word. Daar is reeds drie episodes uitgesaai en Episode 4 wys vanaand. Incogvino het die PVR hierdie week laat les opsê en al drie episodes bestudeer, en ek is reg om my beskeie uitspraak te lewer.

On Fining Agents and Clarity

Date: October 7, 2014

Author: Marthélize Tredoux

Categories: Wine Science

Comments: 3 Replies

Wine – more than just fermented grape juice?

The Incogvino SuperFANS are all about the wine, and not just the tasting and the drinking. Being an inquisitive bunch, the following question popped up on our mailing list this week. “Egg protein? Milk protein? Is this normal?” with reference to a wine label with the aforementioned listed on it. This brought up the topic of fining agents and the question of not only what, but how, these processing aids are used in the making of wine. The science of fining agents can be quite complicated (some Chemistry 101: the molecules of fining agents have either positive or negative charges which affect the way they interact with the compounds in wine, which also have positive or negative charges. Science!) but the basics can be simple to understand. Here’s a quick clarification about fining agents in wine.